Songs From Another Love
by chasind
Summary: Arthur just went through a bad break-up. So what does he do relieve the pain? Why go to a gay bar, get drunk, and take a hot British guy named Eames home, of course. He thinks it's just a one night stand, but then he meets Eames again in the unlikeliest of places and finds out that there may just be something just a *wee* bit off with the Brit.
1. Homewrecker

Disclaimer + Author's Notes:

Well obviously, I do not own the characters and anything related to Inception. They belong to Christopher Nolan and whoever else made money from that brilliant movie.

_Italics are character's thoughts in their head_

Oh please note that I have no beta for this, so ignore any mistakes.

-0-0-

**01: Homewrecker (by Marina and the Diamonds)**

_Deception and perfection are wonderful traits._

_One would breed love,_

_The other hate._

_You'll find me in the lonely hearts._

_Under "I'm after a brand new start"_

-0-0-

The music was now blaring like someone was banging his head against the wall. Then again, he was in a gay club, so that was probably to be expected. When he entered the building earlier this evening, the music was thoroughly welcomed since he did come here to find some sort of escape from all the bullshit happening in his life.

Now it seemed like a nuisance or perhaps if you wanted specifics, an ex boyfriend that cheated on you.

This sort of environment was foreign to him. Normally, he'd rather be curled up on his couch watching some good old fashioned television and not spend it barely conscious on a club's bar counter like the town drunk.

"Hey mister! Fill me another shot!" the man hollered, louder than intended, at the half-naked, extremely sexy bartender a few feet away from him.

He got a judgmental glare from across the counter.

"What the hell man? I said fill her up!" the black haired man loudly demanded again at the bartender.

The bartender narrowed his eyes before approaching the surly man, stared him directly in the eyes and said, "Look man, I think you've got enough alcohol in your body for now. Take a breather. I'm not serving you anymore tonight."

"What?" the man exclaimed hotly as he glared at the bartender who began picking up his empty shot glasses in front of him.

"Wait. Do you want more money? Here," he said before fishing out a few bills from his pocket, not bothering to count just exactly how much. Still, the point was made and the bartender just looked at him.

"Okay there," he urged the bartender, gesturing wildly with his fingers the amount of bills layered in front of both of them. "See? I'll pay you double the price. Just fucking give me more tequila."

The handsome bartender just shook his head, "Listen, I told you I ain't serving you anymore alcohol. So why don't you go home and rest before you start making a scene here that you'll definitely regret tomorrow."

"Are you threatening me?" he replied hotly, obviously not liking that his bribery didn't work one bit.

"Just some friendly advice," the bartender said with a smile as he continued taking away his shot glasses from him. The man just scowled in return earning a chuckle from his adversary.

"Besides," the bartender continued, "these bills," he gestured at the cash, "ain't even enough to give you a glass of Coke alone." And with that, the bartender turned around to attend to the empty glasses.

The man just stared at the back of the bartender, unsure exactly what to do at this point. He probably sure he was reeking of desperation, but in a situation like this, being drunk was the only thing that would numb the pain he was feeling inside.

"Fine, I'll pay you triple!" he said a little quieter than his previous outburst, but still was pretty loud nonetheless.

"No."

"I'll suck your dick."

"No."

"I'll let you fuck me!"

"Go home," the bartender said with finality without even turning around as he continued working.

The man's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fuck," he murmured as he closed his eyes as he tried to block out the headache that he felt coming.

From the corner of his eye, he could see a couple of guys staring at him while clutching their drinks. They're probably judging him from his little conversation with the bartender. He already knew what they were thinking about. Probably thinking just how much of a slut this guy is. Most likely pitying him as well from the fact that he offered to have sex with the bartender for a few more drinks.

And if there's one thing Arthur Hansen hated most in the world, it was pity.

"What the hell are you looking at?" he snarled at them as he aggressively turned his body towards them. The group of guys stared at him for a few more seconds, before dispersing into the crowd, still clutching their drinks with them.

Arthur was about to make a new snide comment when a sudden pain in the head shot through him. _Great_, he thought_, haven't even napped and I'm already getting a fucking hangover_.

Of course, he really shouldn't be surprised given he drank more than ten shots of tequila and god knows what else. He let out an undecipherable groan when another wave of pain hit him, this time so intense he actually had to clutch his head.

_I am not looking forward to waking up tomorrow… And it's Ari's engagement party too. Just great. Just fucking great._

The third wave of pain signaled Arthur that it, _finally_, was time to leave the bar and head straight home.

Arthur raised his head slowly and surveyed his surroundings, trying to find the location of the exit. All he saw, however, were literally dozens of bodies all grinding up one another. That and fuel in all the alcohol he ingested, it was, understandable for him not to find it.

_Great. I don't even know where the fucking exit is. How the fuck am I supposed to go home now?_

"Uhh, excuse me," he said back to the bartender.

"Look man, I'm going to start ignoring you right now so you can get up and leave. I'm not serving you anymore," the bartender growled with annoyance, not even bothering to turn around to face Arthur.

The black haired drunk was about to explain the situation he was in, but the bartender beat him to the punch by swiftly making his way towards the other end of the bar, ignoring Arthur completely.

Arthur gave out a huff of annoyance at the bartender's attitude. _Good job Arthur. Didn't you graduate at the top of your class? How on earth did you fall down from grace oh so quickly? I swear, you-_

The black haired man stopped ranting in his head when he felt someone staring at him. From the corner of his eye, he can tell the person two or three seats away from him was indeed staring. Slowly, he turned his head.

A pair of green eyes was staring at him. Arthur momentarily lost his breath because the guy staring at him was one of the most handsome specimens he had ever laid eyes on. The guy before him was an absolute hunk, green eyes staring back at him with the utmost lust. His cropped brown hair perfectly framed his rugged face. His lips were moist from the beer he was sipping on and was still sipping on. And his body, well let's just say he had the body of a Greek statue. Not that he was naked, no. Arthur could see from the black v-neck and jeans this guy was wearing, his muscles were practically outlined to perfection.

_And hello, are those fucking tattoos I see poking out from underneath that shirt?_

"Uh, can I help you?" Arthur nervously asked the sex-on-legs before him. He gave a small, nervous swallow as the guy nonchalantly sipped his beer, while he stared at Arthur.

And with that, he continued referring to that guy as sex-on-legs.

"You looking for the exit?" sex-on-legs asked with an accent, still sipping that bottle of beer he was dangling in his right hand.

Arthur slowly gave a nervous swallow before answering a very timid, "Ye.. yes." And cue another throbbing surge of pain in the head.

_Holy shit. This guy's British!_

"It's right over there," sex-on-legs said as he gestured his beer bottle behind Arthur's body.

"Really?" Arthur said in surprise as he quickly turned his head to the other direction only to greet him with another wave of pain. _Ow, okay, note to self, turn head veeery slowly next time._ Sure enough, in the very back of the club, he could see the EXIT sign illuminated in green and white. _Oh praise the lord._

Arthur slowly turned his head back to sex-on-legs to thank him, "Hey thanks man, I really appre- Whaat the hell?!" he shouted in surprise when he found his face literally just a few inches away from another. Sex-on-legs was suddenly sitting right next to him. Well damn, Arthur nearly fell out of his chair from the surprise.

Sex-on-legs continued taking sips of his beer while still studying Arthur. His beautiful, green eyes were wandering over Arthur's body, earning a blush from the black haired man.

"Uhh…" Arthur trailed off, clueless on how to go about this. _Damn. This guy is making the pain intensify._

"Fuck, you're hot," sex-on-legs said bluntly.

"Huh?" Arthur was sure he heard it correctly, but somehow he couldn't fully register that this sexy being found him attractive.

"I said you're fucking hot, darling," sex-on-legs said.

"Uhh, thanks?" Arthur replied with a blush, choosing to ignore that horrendous pet name sex-on-legs gave him.

"So, wanna fuck?"

"What?" Arthur said, not really believing what came out of sex-on-legs' mouth. He stared at the handsome man who put down his beer and leered at him.

"Darling, I said if you want to get out of here and fuck."

Arthur blushed again before entering into another silent stupor. He wasn't really very accustomed to being asked straight away for sex. He was a prude, or rather, old fashioned to put it into better terms. He wasn't the kind of guy who would periodically parade himself on Grindr and ask if they want to have some substandard 15-minute sexual intercourse that probably wouldn't be even fun or exciting… But then again, he did just offer the bartender of it for some alcohol, so that entire line of reasoning was thrown out the window.

"We don't even know each other," Arthur said after a long period of silence. He didn't answer sex-on-legs' question directly because in all honesty, every person would be dying to have sex with the man directly in front of him.

But no, somehow Arthur's morals came fighting back from the headache.

Sex-on-legs just rolled his eyes, thinking how unlucky it was that out of all the guys he wanted to fuck in this dumb club, it turned out to be _that_ guy who seemed to constantly battle his desires of the flesh with his morals. That didn't deter him though. In fact, he was up for a little bit of breaking-this-guy's-moral-code game.

"Eames," sex-on-legs said.

"Huh?" Arthur looked at him weirdly, obviously not picking that up.

"My name is Eames, darling," sex-on-legs repeated, giving Arthur the most charming smile he could muster up.

That seemed to do the trick as Arthur nearly melted from his bar stool.

"Okay, so I pretty much introduced myself, what's your name, _darling_?" Eames purred as he prodded Arthur's chest with a finger.

"A… Arthur… Arthur Hansen," he answered as he glanced at Eames' finger still poking at his chest.

"Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, what do you say we head back to your place darling and get to know each other a little bit better?" Eames asked as he purposely let his hand fall down onto Arthur's thighs.

Arthur was staring at Eames' hand, pretty sure Eames could see Arthur's hardening cock in his jeans. "Su… sure. Let's go back to my place."

And there you go.

Arthur's horniness took over completely.

"Fu… uck," Arthur groaned as he broke off the kiss with Eames.

Eames gave a grin as he started stroking Arthur's _really_ hard cock through his jeans. "Like that, darling?" Eames asked with one hell of a cocky smile.

"Yeah," Arthur groaned as he bit his lip in response. He never thought he'd be spending the night having sex, yet here he was, trapped between Eames and the front door of his apartment.

Eames carefully licked Arthur's neck from the nape up to his ear and whispered, "Good. Cause I'm really looking forward in fucking you tonight."

Arthur didn't know how it was possible, but after hearing that from Eames, he got even harder.

Eames suddenly grabbed Arthur by his undershirt, shoved him away from the door and pretty much ripped the front of the shirt completely. Eames took a moment to look at Arthur's body. He thought the shorter man in front of him was hot, boy was he wrong, Arthur was _fucking_ hot. He had well-defined arms and chest, and surprisingly a well prominent six pack that was not noticeable earlier this evening. Eames didn't know why Arthur didn't show off his body in the club. He would surely be flanked by dozens of guys for sure. But no, Arthur was dressed modestly earlier this evening. And that irritated Eames slightly.

_No bloody way a bloke this hot should be hiding his fucking body!_

"Take off everything!" Eames barked at the other man as he, himself, started stripping off.

In around thirty seconds, Arthur was completely naked in front of Eames, his hands desperately trying to hide the massive boner he was sporting. Not that he was embarrassed to show Eames his dick, he was pretty well endowed in that department for your information; however, Arthur was always self conscious about his body whenever he was around people he barely knew…

And Eames was certainly fell in that category.

Arthur just stared at Eames who was taking off his clothes in a jiff as well. As soon as Eames tossed his top, Arthur's eyes widened at the sight of his body. His arms were massive! Arthur could see the veins traveling down Eames' arms. That was a sign that this guy took working out seriously. His chest was extremely well defined. And his eight pack? Well, that was perfection. But what caught him the most was that tattoo on his arm.

The ogling didn't stop there though.

As soon as Eames chucked off his jeans and underwear, Arthur's eyes nearly popped out of its sockets. His legs looked sturdy and strong, considering it reminded Arthur of tree trunks. And his erect cock jutting out of well-trimmed pubes made Arthur subconsciously approach Eames, kneel down and suck it.

"Ye… yeah," Eames groaned as he ran his fingers through Arthur's black hair. "Just like that, love. Bloody fucking swallow the entire thing!"

For some reason, that turned Arthur on and only encouraged him to suck with even more fervor. Soon, Eames' dick was slick with saliva as Arthur continued bobbing up and down on it.

"Fuck.. yeah.. You like that dick, Arthur? Yeah, you love that dick down your throat don't you love?" Eames growled as he held Arthur's head steady and started fucking Arthur's mouth with an unexpected intensity.

"Take. It. All. You. Motherfucker. Swallow. My. Fucking. Dick." Eames said as he thrust in Arthur's mouth as he punctuated the words one by one.

Arthur was gagging from the raw intensity Eames was displaying. Even though he had slight tears in his eyes, Arthur's cock was still so fucking hard. He was stroking it all the while sucking on Eames' dick and he was making a quite a mess on the floor as there lay a small amount of his precum.

Eames hauled Arthur up to his feet and savagely kissed him, his tongue invading his mouth. The blonde held on to Arthur's face as they continued dueling inside each other's mouth. Arthur moaned in Eames' mouth as he tried to hold himself steady by clutching on Eames' massive arms. He could feel their cocks brush up against each other sending electricity through his body.

Eames pulled away from the kiss and stared at Arthur, lust filled in both of their eyes. "I'm gonna fuck you now," Eames said as he shoved Arthur onto the nearby dining table… Honestly, both of them were way too horny to consider fucking in the bedroom.

"Lie down on the fucking table!" Eames ordered Arthur as he crouched down at his jeans, retrieved a condom and some travel sized lube. As soon as he turned around, he found Arthur lying down on the dining table, his legs up in the air, and his hands clutching his ass cheeks as he gloriously showed Eames his asshole.

"Oh love, your ass is so fucking hot!" Eames purred as he strode towards the dining table. He bent down and plunged his tongue inside Arthur's ass.

"Ho.. Holy shit!" Arthur cried out in ecstasy, his back arching oh so slightly from the tongue invading his asshole. He didn't expect the blonde to go dive in like that. Eames' tongue was working magic down there and all Arthur could do was moan like a bitch in heat.

A few minutes later, Eames stopped rimming him and stood up. He ripped the condom from out of its wrapper and put it over his cock. The brunette then smeared the entire sachet of lube onto his dick. He couldn't really afford to insert any finger inside Arthur any longer. He needed his ass _now_. And damn, that was what he's getting.

Even though he didn't warm Arthur's ass with any preparation, Eames made it a point to enter slowly so the man could get used to his big dick. He wasn't _that_ heartless.

"You okay, love?" Eames said softly as he noticed Arthur shut his eyes, no doubt from the pain. His cock was barely even half inside before Arthur's ass when he stopped as soon as he noticed that Arthur's dick got softer.

"Yeah… I'm fine," Arthur panted as he brought his right hand to his forehead. "Stay still for a few seconds before you push in. Your dick is fucking big!"

Eames just chuckled and did just that. He waited for Arthur to get comfortable to his size all thewhile caressing Arthur's thigh in hopes of keeping the man still turned on and horny.

"Okay, go push again," Arthur whispered as his breathing slowly returned to normal.

Eames then slowly pushed his cock all the way until his pubes rested against Arthur's ass.

"Fuuuck, that feels gooood," Arthur groaned in pleasure.

Eames leaned forward cupped Arthur's head with his arms and whispered in his ear, "Wonderful darling because I'm going to start fucking you like the there's no tomorrow." And as soon as he said that, he withdrew his cock until only the head remained before slamming back inside.

"Shiitt!" Arthur cried out, his back arching out once again.

"You like that love?" Eames whispered as he repeated the motion once again. "You like my cock slamming into you?"

"Fuckkk yes!" Arthur shouted, his legs wrapping around Eames waist in response. He wrapped his arms around Eames' neck and said, "Yeah.. Fuck me! Fuck me hard!"

"Oh darling, I will," Eames said into Arthur's ear before biting his neck and started hammering Arthur with more intensity than before.

"Shi...ii..iittt!" Arthur n cried out in between pants, his arms grasping onto Eames' back like it was his lifeline.

"Yeahhh… Cry out for me love!" Eames shouted.

"Fuck me harder! Come on! Harder!"

"Come on! Beg for it!" Eames grunted as he continued fucking Arthur with reckless abandon.

"Harder please! I need your cock so fucking bad! Shit! There! Do that again! Oh fu..uuu…u…cckkkkk!" Arthur cried out in pleasure once Eames started hitting his prostrate.

"Ride that fucking cock love!" Eames shouted as he bit down on Arthur's neck once again.

By this time, Arthur's words were reduced to nothing more than indecipherable grunts and moans as the fucking continued. The dining table was rocking badly from the ferocity of Eames' thrust with the sound of flesh hitting flesh and grunts filling the room.

After a while, Arthur couldn't hold back anymore. "Oh fuck Eames! I'm gonna fucking cum!" And he started jacking off his cock with so much speed.

Eames leaned back up so he could get a view of Arthur cumming on his own stomach. "Yeah, cum for me darling! Shoot that motherfucking load!" he shouted.

Arthur curled up his feet and screamed as he came. Hard. The first few shots shooting landed on his face. The sight of Arthur being covered in cum triggered Eames' impending release.

"Oh shit! I'm gonna cum! Shit!" Eames said as he pulled his cock from Arthur's ass, threw away the condom and started stroking it furiously.

Arthur got up from the dining table and got down on his knees and took the head of Eames' cock in his mouth. He so badly wanted to taste this perfect specimen.

As soon as Arthur's lips found its way onto his cock, Eames started to cum. "Hollly fuuu..uuuu..ckkk!" And Arthur swallowed every little spurt of semen.

"Holy fuck!" Eames said as he looked down at Arthur who was giving him a huge grin. Eames roughly pulled Arthur up and kissed him again, tasting himself on Arthur's tongue.

"Fuck darling. That was hot! Now where's the bloody shower?" Eames asked after breaking off the kiss.

"Arthur, you need to get up," a voice called out behind him, trying to wake the little devil up.

Arthur wasn't having any of it. He merely groaned with his head under his pillow, trying to calm the ache pounding in his head. He was planning on sleeping the pain away, but _someone _had other ideas.

"Arthur, will you please get up?" the same voice said, frustration evident in the tone. The unknown presence grabbed Arthur's leg and started shaking it in hopes of making him get out of bed.

"Stop that Eames!" Arthur shouted as he hugged his pillow even tighter.

He didn't expect the reply to be, "Who the fuck is Eames?"

_What the hell?_ Arthur thought. _Who the fuck is bothering me?!_ He peeked from underneath his pillow and found a tall blonde at his foot still shaking his leg. Arthur groaned. Of course, the only other person besides himself that can open his apartment was Dom, his best friend since high school. He gave Dom a spare key in case of emergencies… Somehow, underneath the covers of the bed sheets and pillow, Arthur was now regretting that decision.

Arthur also glanced around the bed, taking into account that Eames was gone. Not that it was a surprise to him though.

Dom rolled his blue eyes as he jostled Arthur's foot again. "Arthur, Ari's engagement party is today. Did you forget about that while you were drinking like an alcoholic last night?"

_Oh shit._ Arthur thought. How could he forget that? Ari's engagement party was today. She was making everyone meet her fiancé for the first time since he practically lived at the other side of the United States. Truth be told, he was excited to meet the future husband of his favorite co-worker. He even bought a new outfit for this special occasion. Unfortunately for Arthur, certain events in his personal life slightly derailed him from focusing at the celebration.

"What time is it anyways?" Arthur groaned, his head still underneath his pillow.

"It's 10:30 in the morning Arthur," his best friend answered bluntly.

"WHAT?!" Arthur shouted in surprise as he suddenly bolted upright from underneath the covers, which probably wasn't such a good idea since a massive pain greeted him through his head.

"Jesus Christ Arthur, you look like shit," Dom mentioned as he cocked his head to the side. Dom could see Arthur's eyes were bloodshot red and he had massive eye bags underneath his eyes. "What the hell happened to you last night? And who the fuck is Eames?"

Arthur just waved a hand, dismissing Dom's question as he hastily retreated towards the kitchen for an aspirin. His blonde friend begrudgingly followed the shorter man.

"Are you sure it's already 10:30?" Arthur asked as he grabbed a painkiller from one of the medicines on his counter.

"Yes," Dom replied with an eye roll.

"Dammit! Fucking overslept!" Arthur said after downing the painkiller with a glass of water. He turned around to face his friend and couldn't help but raise his eyebrow.

"Really, Dom? We're going to a party, an engagement party, and you're wearing that?" Arthur asked out of wonder, only realizing what his friend was actually wearing.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Dom asked as he gestured to the clothes on him. Arthur just stared at the blonde man in front of him. He was wearing a very faded denim top over some slacks along with some loafers. It didn't actually look bad considering that Dom had that sort of swimmer's body that managed to fit the clothes perfectly. It's just that it wasn't really appropriate for a somewhat formal engagement party.

"Well, for one thing, you look like you're going to the mall," Arthur answered bluntly.

"Arthur, if I were going to the mall, I'd be wearing nothing but a tank top, some shorts and flip flops. This," Dom gestured at his ensemble, "is me dressing up."

"We're going to the country club. I don't think they'll let you in wearing something that casual."

"Oh Arthur, you'd be glad to know that the club manager owes me a few things and I think he'd let me dressing up like this slide by," Dom said with a wink as he sat down in one of Arthur's dining chairs.

Arthur just rolled his eyes, "You and your secrets."

"Spoilsport," Dom replied as he stuck his tongue at Arthur before giving him a huge smile.

"Anyways, what are you wearing?" Dom asked as he watched Arthur proceed back to his bedroom to retrieve his clothes.

"Well I'm going to be wearing a suit because unlike someone, I know the meaning of a semi-formal event," the shorter man replied.

"I don't understand you and your fascination with suits, Arthur!" Dom replied playfully earning a small chuckle from his BFF. "Anyways, what the hell happened to you last night? You called me in the middle of the evening, but I couldn't really hear because the background was waaaay too loud."

"Oh, just drowning my sorrows out," Arthur nonchalantly replied from inside the bedroom. He grabbed the clothes he prepared inside his closet and went back outside to go to his bathroom.

"Did you go clubbing?" Dom asked, his eyes full of mischief. Ever since they were rebellious teenagers, he never pegged Arthur as a party person. In fact, he had pegged Arthur as a stick-in-the-mud, so the prospect of Arthur willingly going to a club on his own was new and intriguing.

"Yeah, I did. Basically drank my body weight in vodka and tequila last night," Arthur said with a shake of his head. _And waking up with a fucking headache was part of myself never to do that again._

Dom laughed at Arthur's discomfort over the whole clubbing thing. Secretly, he was sort of glad that Arthur got a chance to let out the demons he had been holding in the last couple of days… even though he was suffering a major hangover from it.

"So, what else did you do? Did you hook with some random hot guy as well? Did his name happen to be Eames, by any chance?" Dom joked with a laugh as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Arthur just stared at the blonde, his discomfort and embarrassment growing by the minute. He didn't really know how to answer this question for if Dom knew that he indeed slept with someone, he'd need to know every little sordid detail. Unfortunately for Arthur, his silence was already an answer as Dom's eyes widened in surprise.

"Aha! I knew it!" Dom shouted in triumph.

Arthur just glared at him with intensified hatred.

"Well don't just stand there, talk already!" Dom said impatiently.

"Yes, hooked up last night. His name was Eames and he's British and he was pretty much sex on legs," Arthur started as he stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out how to describe sex-on-legs in full detail.

Dom just whistled as he leaned more across the dining table, trying to move closer to Arthur so he could understand everything better.

"He had a fucking eight-pack Dom," Arthur said with a naughty smile.

"Damn!"

"Did I mention that he was British?"

"You did already."

"We had a great time on that dining table you're leaning on."

"What? You did it here? Ewww!" Dom said with disgust as he stood up and backed away from the dining table. Arthur just laughed over his friend's reaction.

"Arthur, if you got cum on my denim top, I will never forgive you!" Dom angrily said as he surveyed his top if there were any stains on it.

"I'm pretty sure any remains of cum would have dried up by now Dom," Arthur laughed, to which he earned a scowl from the blonde.

"Uhhh… Stop. I'm painting a mental picture. Look, you're my best friend and all, but I really don't want to hear about your sex life in detail considering I'm straight. Anyways, where is he?"

"I don't know," Arthur shrugged. "Woke up this morning to find you on my bed, instead of him."

"Did you get his number at least?"

"Didn't get a chance to," Arthur shrugged.

"Oh Arthur," Dom said with a sad frown. He knew Arthur for a long time and he could pretty much tell when something is bothering the black haired man really badly.

"Don't wanna really want to talk about it. Was looking for a distraction last night and well, Eames was the perfect one indeed. And besides, after what happened recently, I'm not really ready to delve into another relationship right now," Arthur said.

Dom frowned and said, "Okay, first of all, what happened with Robert was not your fault. He cheated on you, so you have no one to blame, but that little slut. As for this Eames guy, well if we see him on the street, I'll be happy to punch the living daylights out of him for you if we see him. The nerve of him not giving you his number!"

Arthur just smiled in response. "You don't have to Dom… really. Like I said, I wasn't looking for anything serious."

"Oh shut up! You're my best friend and I'll be damned if someone treated you like some cheap one night stand! Now why don't you go the bathroom, bathe and change? We only have ten minutes left until the party officially starts."

"I hate this party," Arthur whispered to himself as he sipped his remaining champagne.

He and Dom were busy sulking off in some corner in this illustrious function room in the club… Or rather, Arthur was doing all the sulking; Dom was too busy mingling with the other guests in the near vicinity.

Ever since arriving, Arthur was not in the best of moods and it showed on his face and in his body movements. Dom tried bringing him into small conversations with the other guests and Arthur tried to put on his best fake smile and pretend to be interested in the conversation at hand. But the longer the conversations go, Arthur's smile slowly turned into an unmistakable frown. Dom thought it would be best if the shorter man would just sulk off in some corner by himself than force him to mingle with people. In his current state, Arthur's irritability may cause him to snap and Dom thought this probably wouldn't be a good idea to make a scene.

So here he was, leaning against the expensive wooden wall behind him, hand still clutching on to his champagne glass, which was now empty.

"Oh damn, I need another one," Arthur said to no one in particular as he placed his empty glass on top of the stone fireplace and reached out for another as a waiter passed by.

"Oh no. You are not drinking anymore," Dom said as he grabbed the newly filled champagne glass Arthur was holding and placed it back on the waiter's tray.

"What the hell Dom?" Arthur hissed at his best friend, not believing why he wasn't allowed to drink. "Would you please explain to me why you are preventing me from achieving happiness in this dull party?" he asked, eyes ablaze with fury.

"Okay, first of all, you just got drunk last night and you still have the remnants of a hangover. Second of all, you might get drunk if you overindulge and I'd rather not have you go apeshit in this party. Third of all, you just got drunk last night," Dom replied.

"Ugh. Whatever man!" Arthur huffed as he crossed his arms against his chest in annoyance.

"The couple's quite a bit late, huh?" Dom asked as he glanced at his watch.

Arthur just scoffed in response.

"Why are you in such a prissy mood anyways? I thought you were looking forward to this event for weeks," Dom asked as he stood beside Arthur and leaned back against the wall, both of them staring at the crowd of people waiting for the couple to arrive. "I mean prissier than usual… cause you're always prissy," he added.

"Look at me! My eyes are still red, my eye bags won't go away, my hair is out of place and I found another guy who had the exact same shoes as me! My excitement for this party has completely disappeared through the window," Arthur replied angrily. "And what do you mean always prissy?"

Dom looked at Arthur for a few seconds before bursting into a small fit of laughter. Dom just glared at him.

"What the hell is so funny?" Arthur asked through gritted teeth and Dom really believed that Dom laughed even harder after he asked.

"Well," Dom said finally calming down, "your predicament right now is very reminiscent of Kristen Wiig's character in Bridesmaids."

Arthur's eyes widened at the comparison before giving an appalled look. "I am not Annie!" Arthur said as he punched Dom's shoulder in amusement.

"You are to! I can't wait until you find out your arch nemesis in this party," Dom said with a chuckle.

"Honestly, I hope I find my Rose Byrne in this part. Then, maybe, the party will be a lot more fun," Arthur, snickered.

"Anyway, have you seen what Ari's fiancé looks like?" Dom asked with curiosity. "What's his name again?"

"His name is Theodore E. Cooper and I actually haven't seen him yet. I tried investigating him through the internet, but I came up empty handed," Arthur explained then looked at Dom who had a peculiar expression on his face.

"What?" he asked the blonde guy.

"Investigating?" Dom asked, amused.

"Yes, investigating!" Arthur said before he added, "Because stalking is such a harsh word."

He earned himself an eye roll from the blonde.

"And you came up absolutely empty handed?" Dom asked, now bewildered.

Ever since high school, Arthur had the ability, or was it knack really, to find information on anyone. And when Dom meant anyone, he literally meant anyone. Just give Arthur a laptop and an hour and he'd be able to produce the information you needed with no hitch. So, imagine his surprise, when he found out his best friend decided to take up architecture in college when he could have been a real talent in the government with his unique "skills".

Today was the first time Arthur managed to come up empty handed from his "investigating". Which Dom admits is slightly unsettling.

"Dom, the guy doesn't even have Facebook! Who on earth these days doesn't have a frickin Facebook?" Arthur replied testily.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and find out, now won't we?" Dom answered.

And Arthur couldn't wait any longer. He was anxious in seeing what his co-worker's fiancé will look like. Ariadne, or Ari as he likes to call her, gushes about her fiancé to Arthur all the time, but she has actually never shown him a photo of him, which Arthur found extremely odd. Normally, girls who were engaged would fawn over every little thing and would show off her fiancé to whoever would listen, but not Ari. Then again, Ari wasn't really your typical girl.

"I bet you ten bucks he is ugly," Dom whispered down at Arthur with a glint in his eye.

"Oh my god. I am not going to bet on that. You're evil!" Arthur said in aghast. "However, if you make it five dollars and you got yourself a deal!" he added.

"Deal," Dom said with a mischievous smile.

"Great! Let's shake on it to make it official!" Arthur said as he grabbed Dom's hand and shook it with much gusto.

No sooner had they shaken their hands, a large applause rang out from the foyer.

"Oh good. Looks like the couple is here!" Dom said, excited as he focused his attention to the entrance.

Arthur kept his watch at the foyer as he waited with anticipation at the sight of Ari and her fiancé. He could see people were crowding near the foyer in hopes of getting a first look at the couple. A few minutes later, the room's shouts and claps were getting louder as he saw a very short, but smiling, petite brunette step through the arched doorway. She was holding hands with someone, but Arthur couldn't really see him from this angle. He waited for Ari to take a few more steps into the room causing her fiancé to enter in view. She was holding hands with a smiling, handsome man.

Arthur held a gasp. The guy was built like a tank. Those green eyes and plush lips all coming back to him.

_Eames._

"You know, Dom," Arthur started, his mind thoroughly trying to process this scene as he glanced at his best friend, "you might want to get your fist ready."

-0-0-

_Instead of love and trust and laughter_

_What you get is happy never after_

_But deep down, all you want is love,_

_The pure kind, we all dream of._

_But we cannot escape the past,_

_So you and I will never last._

Author's Notes:

Okay, this fic was actually written four months ago, but back then this was not an Inception fic, much less an Arthur/Eames one. It really was a standalone multi chaptered story that I never seemed to push through; however, I've gotten to read over a hundred Arthur/Eames stories since then, so I thought why not turn this fic into one of those?

So after a few editing here and there, and changing the names of the characters, this was the finished product and honestly, it turned out better than I expected.

Don't expect a new chapter out soon though. I'm dreadful with deadlines and coupled with heavy exams this June, chapter 2 won't be out for awhile, sad to say.

Holler if you liked it!

PS. Hate this website's autoformat shiz


	2. Attracting Flies

_Whole sentences in italics are a character's thoughts in his/her head._

-0-0-

**03: Warning Sign (Coldplay)**

_A warning sign_

_It came back to haunt me, and I realized_

_That you were an island and I passed you by_

_And you were an island to discover_

-0-0-

"Okay… I am not going to repeat myself. Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?" Arthur asked, exasperated. He was exchanging glares between Ari and Eames, ignoring the fact that he was still, pretty much, just still in his boxers.

Aril noticed though.

"Uhh Arthur, can you please put on a shirt first?" Ariadne asked, obviously flustered at seeing Arthur half naked.

"Oh yes darling, even I must admit your six-pack is deliciously distracting," Eames purred from the floor.

"Eames, stop it," Arthur snapped at the man. He didn't have time for any of his flirtatious side comments at this time in the morning. He took this moment to glance at the clock on the wall.

_Yep, definitely not at this hour. _

"Okay, I am going in my bedroom to put on some clothes," Arthur explained as he looked at Ari, "and when I come out, I expect someone to please explain to me what is going on."

He didn't even wait for either Ari or Eames to respond to his statement. Instead, he marched towards his room. Although, he did catch Eames giving him a small flying kiss from the corner of his eye.

_Crazy bastard. _

Immediately after closing his bedroom door, Arthur went to his closet and rummaged through his clothes for something decent to wear. He picked out the topmost things on the pile - a white American Apparel v-neck and a pair of black shorts. He then closed the closet and readied himself for what was to follow.

_Okay… When you go out there, Ari is going to explain everything, then everything is going to make sense. Everything will turn out all right. You'll see Arthur…_

Arthur took one long, deep breath before stepping out into the living room. Of all the things he was expecting, he certainly wasn't expecting Ari and Eames to be at each other's throats again.

"So tell me Ariadne, how on earth did you manage to find me?" Eames asked as he casually poured himself a cup of tea like he owned the place. Arthur noticed that Eames finally put on some clothes as well. Although his white tank top and silky, black boxers didn't really help in hiding any flesh or his bulging muscles for that matter.

Not that Arthur was complaining though. Anytime he got to ogle at Eames' sexy body was always welcome.

Arthur quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought as quickly as possible. He forgot that Eames is engaged to Ari…

Actually, he's not quite sure anymore.

"Don't tell me you've been stalking me?" Eames asked again, a playful, but rather annoyed smirk plastered on his face.

"I just logged on to my computer to find the GPS location of Ted's phone Eames. And here you are at Arthur's apartment," Ari said dryly. She also was not in the mood to deal with this early in the morning.

"A-hem," Arthur faked coughed from the doorway, in attempt to catch their attention.

Both Eames and Ari looked at Arthur.

"Okay, can someone now please explain to me everything?" Arthur asked as he sat down at his small dining table.

"Okay," Ari replied as she took the seat right across Arthur's. She looked incredibly exhausted.

"Here you go love," Eames said as he gave Arthur the tea he prepared a minute ago and sat down at the chair beside him.

Arthur couldn't help but raise his eyebrow over Eames' casual display of affection. Especially since Ari was just in front of him and the Brit didn't bother making her a cup.

_Smooth Mr. Eames. Real smooth. _

"Uhh thanks," Arthur said, not really sure how or what to respond. He looked briefly at Eames, who had a smile beaming on his face, showing off his rather adorable, crooked teeth.

"Anytime love," Eames said, rather jovially too.

"Don't get too comfortable Mr. Eames," Arthur responded quite flatly.

Eames blinked a few times, taken aback by Arthur's sudden formality. "Now what's all the formality for, _darling_?" he asked, putting a bit of emphasis on the pet name.

"We have slept together twice now. I think that puts us past these… formalities, don't you pet?" Eames added, as he chanced a glance at Ari who looked absolutely uncomfortable.

Arthur didn't respond to that. Instead he asked with measurable annoyance, "Shouldn't you be sitting with your fiancé on the other side of the table?"

No sooner had he said that, Eames' smile instantly evaporated as he crossed his arms and said, a little to harshly, "She is not my fiancé."

"Ugh, ditto," Ari responded from the other side of the table as she waved a hand towards Eames in dismissal.

Arthur exchanged glances between the two of them and still had trouble picturing just what exactly is going on between the two of them.

"Okay, that explanation you promised me please Ari," Arthur repeated as he played around with his mug. He was trying to keep himself calm by distracting himself with the cup.

"Well…" Ari started off. She was at a loss on how to explain this situation to Arthur. After all, how on earth do you tell someone that your fiancé has a serious mental condition?

"It's complicated," she simply stated.

"Yes, I believe I have gotten that part perfectly Ari," Arthur said, unintentionally rolling his eyes in the process.

If there's one thing Arthur's quite good at, it's how he manages to keep his emotions in check when it comes to tense situations. Two years working under Saito had him going through daily verbal abuse. He needed to find a way to keep a poker face whenever he got the short end of the stick. It wasn't that hard, really. He just needed to put face for an hour or two before venting it out onto his private Twitter account - a highly foolproof system.

And this situation: Ari and Eames at his dining table certainly qualified as a tense situation.

Correction: a _very_ tense situation.

Ari sighed. She realized that it's probably time to stop bullshitting with Arthur. After all, this was Arthur, the guy who could find anything or anyone on the Internet.

"Okay… The simplest way of telling you this is that Ted has D.I.D." Ari explained as she looked at Eames for emphasis.

"I'm sorry, what?" Arthur asked before proceeding to take a sip of his tea.

"Ted has Dissociative Identity Disorder. In other words, he has a spilt personality," Ari said matter of factly.

Arthur accidentally choked on his tea, promptly sending a few drops on the table.

"Wha… whaaat?" Arthur replied, once managing to calm down. "You've got to be joking!" he added as he wiped his mouth from residue.

Ari was looking at him somberly. She definitely wasn't joking. Not even in the slightest.

"I'm serious Arthur," she added.

Arthur looked at Eames like he was some sort of extra terrestrial creature.

"You mean you and Ted-"

"We share the same body? Why yes, darling, that we do," Eames finished for Arthur, looking quite bored and disinterested.

"But… How is that possible?" Arthur asked Eames before turning his gaze back at Ariadne. "I mean, I _know_ it is possible, but come on… the odds of that happening in real life-"

"Well apparently there's only around five percent of the American population who is inflicted with this and it just so happens that the man you're sitting next to is part of that very small demographic," Ari said as she gestured towards Eames with her right hand.

"Well… Holy fuck," Arthur said as he glanced back at Eames who was still grinning at him.

"Will you stop smiling?" Arthur demanded. "Jesus Christ Eames, you couldn't have told me this before?" he asked, livid.

Eames just shrugged as he leaned his chair back. "I didn't think it would be a problem to be honest," the Brit answered.

Arthur saw Ari give Eames a look, to which Eames just rolled his eyes at.

"Really Eames? You didn't think it wouldn't be a problem? I slept with you for crying out loud! How did you think- Wait… Holy fuck, I slept with Ari's fiancé," Arthur said in horror as he buried his head in his hands.

"Darling, I am no one's fiancé," Eames repeated, his teeth gritting in annoyance.

"Shut up!" Arthur harshly said as he glared at Eames before turning back to Ari with utter horror in his eyes. "Oh god Ari, I slept with your fiancé-"

"Arthur darling for the last time, I am not-"

"_Mister_ Eames, please shut up before I throttle this tea at you," Arthur hissed, not even bothering to look at Eames. His threat seemed to work as the man beside him suddenly turned mute. Arthur took that as a sign to continue.

"Ari, I slept with your fiancé. Or fiancé's body. Whatever you want to call it-"

"Arthur,"

"But to be fair, I didn't know he was bipolar of something. I mean, what are the odds of hooking up with a guy with a split personality in a club right? I mean-"

"Arthur, will you relax?" Ari cut him off. "You didn't sleep with Ted. You slept with Eames. That's different."

The raven-haired man gave her the same look that he gave Eames moments ago. It's as if she sprouted another head or two. Arthur couldn't believe what he just heard.

"What do you mean it's different? They share the same body Ari!" Arthur shouted. "They share the same dick! A dick I sucked and fucked with!"

"Okay Arthur," Ari interjected suddenly, "First of all, that's too much information. Second of all, this D.I.D. situation is already complicated to begin with, so I've managed to work out which things bother me and which things don't. I know that Ted and Eames are two entirely _separate_ people, so in my mind, you simply slept with Eames. Although, I must admit, it is quite weird imagining you fucking Eames since he and Ted share the same-"

"Okay! I get it," Arthur said, embarrassed.

He was sure he heard a distinctive chuckle and giggle from the two of them.

"I mean Arthur, come on. You're the smartest guy I know and I pretty much love you like a brother. What other explanation do you think there could be after hearing Ted and Eames change accents earlier this morning?" Ari asked him as she propped her elbows on top of the table and rested her chin under her hands.

"I don't know… I thought he was some sort of actor… maybe," Arthur answered as he looked back at Eames to gauge his reaction.

In response to that, Eames' eyebrows shot up. That train of thought certainly never crossed the Brit's mind. In fact, he would have never assumed Arthur would think of him in that way.

"Me an actor? Oh darling, you flatter me," Eames said in mock appreciation as he placed his hand on his chest in indignation.

Ari, Arthur noted, actually giggled at that.

"It was either that or you were a con man," Arthur scowled back to his tea. He wasn't too keen on being made of a fool, more so by Eames.

"And now you wound me darling!"

"Oh shut up Mr. Eames."

A cool silence engulfed the room after that, as each of the three tried to avoid any further awkward conversations. Ari was busy looking around Arthur's apartment since this was, after all, her first time inside. Eames' body was turned towards Arthur. The Brit had his foot up on his chair as he rested his elbow on top of his knee as he stared at Arthur with utter amusement. Arthur, on the other hand, was playing around with the mug of tea in front of him.

This silence lasted for a couple of minutes, which was too long for Arthur's taste.

"So Ari, are you sure you're not angry with me sleeping with Eames?" Arthur asked, trying to rid the room of the eerie silence.

"I told you Arthur, I'm not. A bit weirded out that you slept with the man who happens to have the same body as my fiancé maybe, but I'm not angry."

"Okay… That's good," Arthur said, relieved. "I promise you it won't happen again anyway," he added.

Eames just snorted at that.

"Moving on," Arthur said as he glared at Eames, "how did this whole thing start anyway? Were you born with this condition? Also, why are you British and Ted is American? And why do you like guys?"

Arthur failed to notice how Eames' eyes softened when he dropped the mister. The raven-haired man was too busy processing the situation at hand to notice.

"Honestly darling, I wouldn't know that myself. All I remember was growing up with Ted with this condition. And as for the accent and the sexual preference, well, I don't know the answers to those either."

"But isn't that weird? I mean, the other you is straight and you're… kinda not."

"Actually Arthur, apparently that is highly plausible," Eames interrupted.

"Oh really? Well okay… I guess…" he paused before he asked, "Who's the real one then?"

"I'm afraid I don't follow your line of questioning, darling."

"I meant, the real person on the birth certificate? Surely there must be the real and the _other _personality," he explained as he air quoted the word, _other_.

He didn't have to wait for Eames to answer as the man just flinched at Arthur's question. And that flinch answered the question, loud and clear.

"I'm sorry. That was rude," Arthur said as he looked down in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's okay," Eames replied with a small smile as he patted Arthur's knee under the table to show that there weren't any hard feelings.

Arthur stared at Eames' hands on his knee and couldn't help but give a small, brief smile back. Brief because it would be painfully weird to flirt with Eames with his alter-ego's fiancé in the same room. When he realized that Eames was flirting with him in front of Ari, he couldn't help but scowl.

"Anyway," Arthur murmured as he shoved Eames' hands away. "Do you know why or how this happened?" he asked as he exchanged looks between Ari and Eames.

"Oh love, I wouldn't be here if I knew the answer to that question now would I?" Eames asked slyly.

"Ted hasn't told me anything much about this Arthur. Every time his therapist and I ask him about it, he just blanks up. Eames isn't much help either in this aspect," Ari explained.

"Therapist?"

"Oh yeah. That's how Ted gets his treatment. We talk to his therapist every Wednesday and Saturday to help get to the bottom of this, but we're moving at a slow pace. Eames doesn't really like to cooperate," Ari said as she flashed a disapproving look at the Brit.

"It's because I don't like her Ariadne," Eames answered dryly.

"She's trying to help Eames," Ari said, a little too hotly as she stood up in frustration. The Brit just gave her a really passive look in response.

"Is therapy the only option you have as a treatment?" Arthur asked quickly as he tried to deflect the tension.

Eames and Ari both stared at him, before the petite woman sat down in her seat.

"There's no surefire method on how to treat D.I.D. Arthur," Ari answered. "I mean therapy is the least controversial among all of them."

"And I am bloody not going through _those _treatments ever again," Eames spat.

As soon as Eames said that, Arthur couldn't help but notice the flash of pain on Eames' face. Sure he was angry and pissed at the moment, but the young architect was able to point that glimmer of pain for a fleeting second. And that bothered him. Arthur shuddered at the thought of Eames going through these "controversial" treatments. He didn't want to know nor had he any intention of finding out.

"Sorry I asked," Arthur murmured, thinking no one would be able to hear him.

Eames did though. And he gave Arthur a small sheepish smile; the Brit seemed to calm down a bit.

"So, uhhh, how do you come out then?" Arthur continued, his curiosity still not satisfied.

"Excuse me?" Eames asked as he arched an eyebrow.

"I mean, take over Ted's body… or something along those lines," Arthur added.

"Oh, I don't know… I just do," Eames answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Uh-huh," Arthur said, his tone evident that he wasn't satisfied with the answer given to him.

"It's hard to explain really. I just do. Sometimes when I really want to come out, I sort of force myself out. Usually Ted doesn't let me, so I'd have to wrestle with him for dominance. I usually win though. And then when I want to rest, I let Ted reclaim the body… or something like that," Eames explained.

"Huh," Ari replied.

"I'm sorry Ariadne, did you just scoff?" Eames asked, obviously not liking that sound from the girl.

"How come you never told me or the therapist this?" Ari asked, annoyed.

"Because unlike you and the therapist, I actually like Arthur," Eames smiled deviously as he patted Arthur's knee again. Ari just rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay Eames, you need to stop that," Arthur replied as he took Eames' hand away from his thigh, "Ari is just trying to help you."

Eames just rolled his eyes, which made Arthur frown. "She's not helping me Arthur darling. She's helping Ted, her fiancé. And _that_ is _a vast_ difference," Eames snorted.

Arthur couldn't help but frown some more. He didn't like how Eames suddenly attacked Ari like that. He was sure his best friend was only trying to help him. He was pretty sure that included both Ted and Eames.

"Eames, that's absolutely not fair to Ari," Arthur said as he gave Eames a warning look.

Eames just stared blankly at Arthur for about twenty seconds, before responding, "What's not fair to Ari?" in an American accent, no less.

"Ted?" Arthur asked, surprised at how seamless the transition was.

"Another thing you should know Arthur," Ari said as she stood up and gave her fiancé a hug, "is that Eames likes to disappear when things get too tough for him. And that usually leaves Ted and I to clean up the messes."

"You're too harsh Ari. He's just… troubled that's all," Ted replied as he returned his fiancé's hug.

Ari broke off the hug and stared at Ted. "Honestly Ted, I don't know why you keep defending him," she said tiredly.

"Ari, I've been living with him all my life. I know more about him than you do. He's just misunderstood. Even I can't figure him out. He just needs time to figure some stuff out. Hopefully, he'll be able to answer a few of my questions as well. So cut him some slack until then," Ted replied.

"Fine," she replied.

Arthur was surprised over how protective Ted was over his alter ego. He'd assume Ted wouldn't want anything to do with Eames because based on Ari's experiences, Eames wasn't really much of an upstanding citizen. It'd be easy for someone to dislike Eames right away. The fact that Ted had faith in Eames was touching.

"Anyway, what am I doing in this unfamiliar apartment?" Ted asked as he surveyed his surroundings.

"That unfamiliar apartment happens to be mine," Arthur said as he raised his hand up.

"Oh it is? Why am I here the- Ahh of course, Eames. I'm hoping he didn't give you too much trouble Arthur," Ted said, sadly, hoping his other half didn't do anything he would regret later on.

"It's nothing really. He wasn't too much of a trouble," Arthur lied. He didn't have the heart to tell the truth to Ted, who was being oh so courteous and polite.

_Another thing that separates these two apart is that where Eames is abrasive, while Ted is prim and proper. It just gets weirder and weirder. _

"Well that's good!" Ted said with a smile.

"Ted, we really should go back now. We've bothered Arthur long enough for a lifetime," Ari said as she dragged her fiancé up on his feet.

"Okay, well I'll see you soon Arthur," Ted said as he walked towards the door.

"So sorry about this Arthur. This is rather embarrassing really," Ari said with a flush as she looked at her co-worker.

"Really Ari, it's okay. I'm just glad we finally sorted everything out really," Arthur said as he gave the girl his famous smile, dimples and all.

Ari just smiled back and gave her friend a hug, only to be interrupted by her fiancé.

"Uhh, Arthur…"

Both Arthur and Ari turned around to face Ted.

"Where the hell are my other clothes? I seem to be just dressed in… basically underwear," Ted said as he gestured at his body.

Arthur laughed as he got Ted's clothes and chucked it at the taller man.

As soon as Ted was dressed, he and Ari stepped out of the apartment. Arthur was about to close the door when Ari's head came peeking in at the very last second.

"Yes?" Arthur asked her, eyebrows up.

"Can you uhh… please keep this to yourself? I don't want anyone finding about Ted's condition," she asked Arthur, eyes filled with concern and a hint of fright.

"Of course Ari," Arthur replied with a smile.

"Especially Dom," Ari added.

"Even Dom," Arthur replied back with a nod.

"Okay, thanks!" Ari said before disappearing completely.

Arthur couldn't help, but shake his head over that as he closed his front door and locked it up. To say that he had an interesting morning would be an understatement of the year.

He turned around and looked at his apartment.

_Hmm… What am I going to do now? That talk with Ari, Ted, and Eames certainly kept me awake. I'm not even sleepy in the slightest. _

Arthur stopped thinking and proceeded to his bedroom desk, where he kept his laptop. He found himself opening his laptop for some reason. As soon as it was on, he opened a new webpage and promptly typed in Google, "Dissociative Identity Disorder" and pressed enter.

It had been a very long, stressful weekend for Arthur Hansen. What started out as a one-night stand morphed into one, huge headache for the young architect.

_So the guy I slept with turned out to be slightly crazy. And to top that off, he's fiancé to Ari who pretty much knows everything that happened between the two of us. Can we say mindfuck please?_ Arthur thought as he walked up the stairs towards his apartment.

He really should be letting this entire scenario go already and move on; however, the entire thing was absolutely insane that he couldn't help but replay the events in his mind again and again. Add to that the facts he picked up earlier during his Google search of D.I.D. didn't help in quelling his curiosity over Ted/Eames' condition.

_So, all I got over the weekend was stress. And tomorrow, I'm gonna get some more stress at work. Sigh. Seriously, why does the universe seem to hate me lately? _Arthur wondered as he fumbled with the keys in his pocket.

He was clutching the grocery bags in his one arm while the other was busy trying to open the lock from the door. He was a quarter way through the lock turn when he noticed that his door was left open.

_Motherfucker. This is just what I need right now: an actual break-in! What else could go wrong in my life?_ Arthur cursed silently as he carefully put down the groceries on the hallway floor. He grabbed a huge jug of orange juice from one of the bags.

_Okay, obviously, I am improvising with my choice of weapon._

Arthur slowly turned the knob and with his feet slowly pushed the door open, just enough to squeeze himself inside. He peeked through the door and found a figure, dressed in a black hoodie rummaging through his kitchen cabinets. Arthur thought this was a good time for a surprise attack, given the fact that the figure's backside was facing him.

_Okay, you motherfucker. You better say your prayers!_

Arthur raised the jug with both hands above his head. You know, to be able to whack the intruder's head with. He was halfway through the kitchen; just reaching the edge of the dining table when the intruder turned around and Arthur came face to face with a rather surprised, but rather familiar face.

"Eames!? What the fuck?!" Arthur shouted as he angrily dumped the orange juice on the dining table. "You fucking nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Eames just looked at him, scared to death from the surprise of seeing Arthur so suddenly.

"Why on earth are you here in my apartment? Again? And breaking and entering, no less? _Again_?" Arthur shouted as he placed his hands on his hips in annoyance.

"Uhh, Arthur, I'm not Eames at the moment."

"Ted!?" Arthur asked in shock. That American accent was too hard to miss. Although, Ted's response didn't answer Arthur's question. In fact, it created even more.

"Ted, what on earth are you doing here in my apartment without Ari?" Arthur asked.

Ted just smiled at him and answered, "Uhh, speaking of Ari…"

"Ted! I just saw these grocery bags hanging out in the hallway. Is Arthur in… yet?" Ari said as she entered the apartment, tugging the grocery bags Arthur left out in the hallway inside.

"Arthur! You're finally here!" Ari said with a smile as she continued dragging the bags over to the kitchen.

Arthur just stared at the girl, not really believing what he's seeing.

"Okay freeze!" Arthur shouted as he pointed both at Ari and Ted. "How the hell did you two get in here? My door was locked when I left to buy groceries."

Ari and Ted both glanced at each other.

"Uhh, Eames sort of broke in," Ari answered.

"Eames?" Arthur asked, not sure if he heard that correctly.

"Yes. Apparently he has lock picking skills I wasn't aware of," said Ted, looking very grim. "Anyway, after picking the lock, he sort of disappeared leaving me and Ari in your apartment."

Arthur slapped a hand against his forehead. "I should have known. I thought I was getting robbed for your information."

Ari exchanged glances between Arthur and that huge jug of orange juice on the dining table. "And you were planning on doing what exactly with your intruder in the event that you were indeed getting robbed? Make him drink orange juice?" she asked with a snicker as she pointed to the jug beside Arthur.

"I was going to whack him on the head _for your information_," Arthur pointed out as he patted at the nearby jug.

"Anyway, what are you guys doing here? That you had to break into my apartment?" he asked the two as he narrowed his eyes at the two of them.

"Actually, it's because of Eames why we're here," Ted answered as he scratched the back of his head in anxiousness.

"What about Eames?" Arthur asked as he crossed his arms against his chest.

"Well Ari told me what happened this morning with Eames and how pretty much he was basically telling you his point of view," Ted said nervously.

"Go on," Ari said as she nudged Ted to continue.

"I was wondering if I can stay over here for a week?" Ted asked, or rather blurted it out more likely.

Arthur's eyes just widened.

"I figured that if he spent time with you, he'd be able to talk to you more and we can probably figure out some answers or something," Ted continued.

"What? Are you insane?" Arthur replied, and then let out a small gasp over his choice of words. "I mean, why me?"

"Because what Eames told you in one morning was more than the time he spent with me and the therapist for two months," Ari replied. "He likes you Arthur. Strange as it may seem, but he does and he opened up to you."

"Okay, I'm sorry, but I barely had time to digest everything you told me this morning and you want me to spend a week with Eames, who even without the multiple personality disorder is incorrigible as hell?" Arthur spat.

Ted looked crestfallen. "It'd be a great help Arthur. I… I've lived with Eames my entire life and he has never taken a liking to anyone except you. To be completely honest, you're the only person he's ever opened up to… and maybe, just maybe you'd be able to finally give me some answers on my condition," Ted said.

Arthur stared at the man and his heart did flips on seeing how utterly in despair Ted was.

"Why, a week? Not for a couple of days?" Arthur asked, not wanting to answer just yet. If he was going to agree to this, he needed specificity on every single detail.

"It's because my deadline for the bidding documents of the Howard Department store is on Friday. Given how Saito is, I'm pretty sure I'll be spending most of my week at work," Ari explained.

_Well that's true._

"I don't think I'll be able to monitor Ted for the week as much as I want. But your workload isn't that heavy this week, so I figured it'd be safer for him to room with you in the meantime," Ari continued. "Besides, you're the only one I trust with keeping Ted's secret, well, a secret."

Arthur just gave them the most stoic stare he could. "You're not giving me much of a choice, are you?"

"Well, you could always say no," Ted said with a sheepish smile. "But we'll be forever be indebted to you if you did say yes," he added.

_Oh great. Guilt-trip me then!_

Arthur continued staring at them before finally sighing, "Fine. Just one week, and not a day more!"

Ari shrieked as she rushed towards Arthur and gave him a really tight hug. Arthur was so taken aback by the force that he stumbled backwards in the process. He could see Ted just giving him a really big smile.

"Okay, I'm going to get the bags from the car!" Ari said as she rushed out of the apartment.

"Unbelievable," Arthur said as he shook his head. "You guys brought clothes already without even asking me first?" he asked Ted, annoyed and amused at the same time.

"Well Ari said that you wouldn't really object," Ted answered as he gave a nervous laugh.

Arthur just rolled his eyes in response.

"Anyway, Arthur…" Ted said as he placed his hand on Arthur's shoulder. "You have no idea how this means to me. Really. And you can expect me on my best behavior. I promise not to make any trouble. Eames, on the other hand, well… I can't really speak for him."

"It's fine Ted," Arthur said. "Just take note that I do plan on collecting your debt in future for this stunt," he added as he stared right into Ted's eyes just to give the impression that he wasn't joking in the slightest.

"Oh, I'll be offended if you didn't!" Ted laughed. "I really should help Ari with those bags. But Arthur, really… thanks again," he said as he disappeared through the front door to help his fiancé.

Arthur let out a huge pent-up sigh as he contemplated on having to live with Ted and Eames for an entire week.

_Okay… It's definitely official: the universe hates me. _

-0-0-

_So I crawl back into your open arms_

_Yes__,__ I crawl back into your open arms_

_So I crawl back into your open arms_

_Yes__,__ I crawl back into your open arms_


End file.
